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Home Genetic Tests May Be Riddled With Errors, And Companies Aren’t Keeping Track

This article starts with a story about a couple who bought the home genetic test from 23andme, the wife finding out that she had a SNP linked to Lynch syndrome. The couple began making new plans, the wife considering a hysterectomy and IVF to avoid passing on the mutation. Luckily, she made an appointment with a genetic counselor and it turned out the be a false positive result in the end. This story brings up the issue of the potential dangers of consumer-facing genetic data companies. False positives like this have the potential to lead to huge life decisions by the consumer (luckily these two individuals were in healthcare and got follow-up testing) as well as unnecessary follow-up tests.